Tag Archives: Ronda Cycling

The Ronda area is a cyclists delight and challenge, with spectacular views, and treacherous hill climbs as well. In fact the Serrania is a popular training destination for cyclists preparing for long distance road races and triathlons.

The Via Verde de la Sierra is one of 20 so-called ‘green routes’ which chart a trail of disused railway lines across Andalucia. Forming part of a proposed rail route across the Cadiz Sierra between Almargen and Jerez de la Frontera, it would have connected the cities of Malaga and Granada. Although much of the groundwork, including tunnels, viaducts and railway stations were completed in the early 1930s, the project was never finished and lay in neglect until 1993 when the line was renovated for use as a walking and cycling route.

We started our day in the town of Olvera where we were staying in the charming Casa Andalus on Calle Maestro Amado. Like many of the other white towns in the vicinity, Olvera’s roots are Roman and the town went on to flourish during the Muslim occupation of Spain. It has a Moorish Castle constructed on a rocky crag high above the town which, like parts of our own Moorish castle, was built during the 13th Century Nasrid Dynasty. Some of the original Moorish walls and their supporting buttresses remain intact, but most of the Castle was built after the reconquista. Another noteworthy building in the town is the twin-towered neoclassical church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación whose impressive façade dominates its surroundings and was built on the site of a former mosque.

Cycling the Via Verde

We followed the short though steep path from the town centre down to the Antigua Estación Ferrocarril which marks the starting point of the Via Verde. This hotel offers bicycle rentals and is the last opportunity to pick up refreshments before you reach the Estación de Zaframagón, 15 km along the route. The reasonably flat terrain makes the route perfect for cyclists and we opted to hire bikes, although plenty also chose to follow the route on foot. We were immediately impressed with the scenery, a distinct patchwork of brown and green fields with endless olive tree groves looking like blobs of green paint on a watercolour just asking to be painted. The Via’s thirty tunnels are a feature of the journey and we overcame nine of these before reaching the first official rest-stop at Estación de Navalagrulla. Although we had enjoyed a slight downward gradient thus far and barely broken into a sweat, we would be following the route in reverse on our return later and enjoyed a welcome respite, noting the need to conserve as much energy as possible.

As we got closer to the Estación de Zaframagón, the landscape began to transform from arable land into forests of Spanish Firs. We were transported through mountains and river valleys with the help of immense viaducts and increasingly lengthy tunnels. The viaduct at Zaframagón offered inspiring views of the Peñón de Zaframagón, an impressive 584m-high limestone outcrop with sheer cliffs, and the verdant valley below strewn with delightful stone ruins. Overhead we saw our first venue of about a dozen Griffon Vultures. Two hundred breeding pairs live in these mountains and there is a nature centre dedicated to them at the nearby Estación Zaframagón which includes a video feed showing live footage of the vultures on the opposing rock face. The centre closes daily at 16:00 and a vending machine, which is available until that time, provides another opportunity to get much-needed refreshments before reaching the town of Coripe. Although we had originally intended to end our cycle at the Zaframagón we were feeling relatively spritely and decided to soldier on to the next Estación.

The Guadalete and Guadalporcún rivers join at around the 26 km mark of the route but the Guadalporcún meanders alongside the cycling track all the way from Zaframagón to the Estación de Coripe which has also been transformed into a hotel and restaurant. There is not much happening in the town of Coripe itself which is about 2 km from the track however a small diversion from the Coripe Viaduct takes you to the Chaparro de la Vega. This supposedly 700-year old Holm Oak of enormous dimensions is an Andalucian National Monument and plays its part in local traditions by providing a meeting point for the villagers of Coripe on their annual pilgrimage during the Fiesta del Virgen de Fatima, their patron saint.

Following Estación de Coripe, the route continues to the third and final hotel at the Estación de Puerto Serrano which adjoins the town of the same name. However having already cycled 22 km we were acutely aware of the 200 metre height climb on the return route and set off on the arduous journey back to the start. About 2 hours later and with tired legs and saddle sore beginning to rear its painful head, we arrived at the hotel at Olvera, dropped off our bikes and were happy to place our feet firmly back on terra firma. Our walk back to town was slow but pleasant, not only for the sense of achievement we felt for having completed our long cycle, but also due to the beautiful purple and pink Sierra sunset that accompanied us on our way. We were aware that our legs would soon be stiffening up, so grabbing a quick shower at Casa Andalus, we headed out for an early dinner at the lively Restaurante Lirios before retiring to what was always going to be an excellent night’s sleep.

Offerings at the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios

Though predictably sore and stiff from the previous day’s cycle, we opted for an early rise and a trip to the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios which overlooks Olvera from a nearby hill. This sanctuary, built on the site of an 18th Century hermitage is apparently visited by 300,000 devotees each year who bring offerings to the Señora in fulfilment of their vows. The interior of its colourful chapel is a pastiche of numerous gaudy styles dominated by a shocking amount of gold plating, and stands adjacent to stunning courtyard overrun with potted plants. A room upstairs was undoubtedly the most interesting, housing the devotions deposited by visitors: hundreds of photos, items of clothing, locks of hair and numerous other knickknacks set down often in memory of long passed loved ones.

Next on the agenda was the village of Zahara de las Sierra where the remains of a castle recall its day as a Moorish outpost. Despite its small size (population of about 950) thousands of visitors are attracted to Zahara each year by its picturesque setting perched atop a mountain, overlooking a valley and a man-made crystal blue lagoon. After a quick photo stop, we moved on to Setenil de las Bodegas, possibly the most unique town in the area. After driving through twice, we finally managed to find a parking space to explore this fascinating town where many of the houses are built into the walls of a huge mountain gorge. Setenil shows evidence of human occupation for at least 2,000 years but was possibly occupied by troglodytes long before then.

Olvera can be reached either via Ronda (taking the E-15/AP-7 in the direction of San Pedro de Alcántara and then the A-397 to Ronda, followed by the A-374 and following signs for Olvera) or via Jerez (taking the A-381 to Jerez/Los Barrios/ Seville and then the E-5/AP-4 to Seville, before taking exit 80 towards Arcos de la Frontera). Casa Andalus is a ‘self-catering’ house which can be booked by calling Karen/Andrew on +34 951276249, mob. +34 689665342). Bicycles can be rented at the Antigua Estación Ferrocarril hotel at the start of the Via Verde at the price of €15.00 per day.

La Vuelta de España, known in English as the ‘Tour of Spain’ hit Ronda today on the first full day of racing from Alcala de Guadaira in the Sevilla province, racing through Arriate and Ronda on the way to end of stage two in Marbella.

In temperatures hovering around 38 degrees celsius the pack started their grueling 173km stage, and a little after 16:15 made it to Ronda with a huge Guardia Civil escort and several helicopters hovering overhead.

The UK’s Mark Cavendish, wearing the red jersey after winning the first stage sprint in Sevilla, however at the 4km mark as racing started outside Acala Cavendish had fallen back, allowing Javier Ramirez Abeja, Mickael Buffaz, Johnnie Walker, and Mickael Delage to make their first break from the pack, and by the time they had reached Ronda this had converted to a 45 second lead.

First to cross Ronda’s Puente Nuevo was Mickael Delage (FRA) from the Omega Pharma-Lotto team, followed 12 seconds later by Johnnie Walker (AUS) of the Footon-Servetto team and in third position, Javier Ramirez Abeja (ESP) of Andalucia-Cajasur whose close tailing of Walker as they passed the Santo Domingo Convent raised a huge cheer from Rondeños watching.

First of the pack to cross the Puente Nuevo were riders from team HTC-Colombia including the red shirted Cavendish, the noise of the bikes on cobbled stones was deafening, drowning out the rousing cheers of Rondeños and tourists alike.

After the pack came the team cars laden with spare frames and wheels on their roofs, and then the crowd expecting the race to be over dispersed.

Twenty minutes later the final lone cyclist passed in front of the Plaza de Toros, Arkaitz Duran Daroca of team Footon-Servetto, though it would be fair to say he received the biggest cheer of all, including a standing ovation as he passed Plaza de Espana.

Policia Local today estimated that between La Merced and the Museo Lara around 2,000 fans turned out to watch La Vuelta, which is a large crowd at that time of the afternoon with temperatures hovering around 36 degrees.

You can read more about La Vuelta de Espana on the official website of the race.

The service this article mentions has been discontinued in Ronda due to budget cuts, and we recommend CycleRonda for bicycle hire during your stay in Ronda.

Easy bicycle hire around the city for residents today became a reality as 7 hiring points were opened, with a total of 70 bicycles available to the people of Ronda. Readers may remember Ronda Today announced the intention to go ahead with this bike hire project some months ago.

Fantastic news for residents and tourists in Ronda, our fair city will soon have 70 rental bicycles available at four convenient points around the city to make Ronda cycling a reality.

Ronda joins the University of Málaga, Málaga city, Antequera, and also soon Velez-Málaga as being the only areas in Málaga province with bikes for hire. Programs such as these are already very successful in London, Paris, Sevilla and other major cities, and given the great enthusiasm towards cycling in Ronda, it seems fitting that Ronda should also have bicycles for hire.

Conceived by the Andalucían Energy Agency, a department of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise in association with the Ronda’s Delegation for Innovation, the scheme will cost 110,000€ and will see bike pickup points distributed around four locations in Ronda.

Initial expectations are that points will be located near Plaza de Espana, the railway station or above the carpark on Avenida Martinez Astein, at the end of Avenida de Málaga, and possibly in the Barrio de San Francisco.

Pilar Serrano, head of the Andalucían Energy Agency told Ronda Today the program is innovative and will see emissions improvements of 103 tonnes of CO2 not released into the atmosphere, equivalent to 39 cars less on Ronda’s roads annually.

A dedicated support technician will be employed by the city council to maintain the bicycles, although at this point it is not known if any of Ronda’s three existing bicycle shops will be able to contract for their maintenance.

The 28th November 2009 was an exciting day for the under thirteen Union Deportivo Ronda football team as they were treated to a visit by Bjorn Heidenstrom, former Norwegian International and first division football player who is cycling from Norway to South Africa collecting signed football shirts, and raising awareness for the world’s 45 million refugees.

Bjorn has been cycling for six months already, and arrived in Ronda at 10am after a grueling cycle up the San Pedro highway from Marbella. He certainly lived up the nickname “Crazy Norwegian”. His day in Ronda is part of an extended trip that sees him cycle to Córdoba, then Madrid, and Barcelona before catching a ferry to Italy, the Balkan nations, Greece, Turkey, and Syria.

A decision then needs to be made on the route Bjorn will take cycling to Egypt before cyclng to Cape Town via Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and the Southern African countries. Bjorn is hoping to be in Johannesburg in May. Then he and some volunteers will stitch all of the shirts collected together into a single large flag that FIFA and the South African Football Association have agreed will be flown at the opening game of the Soccer World Cup in June 2010.

Bjorn Collecting Ronda Football Shirts

Football shirts collected from CD Ronda and UD Ronda will be amongst the other many hundreds of signed football shirts, including those from FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, FC Valencia, Manchester United, Liverpool FC, Dynamo Moscow, and many more top teams yet to be visited.

Refugees are one of the world’s greatest tragedies, and are a group of people with the least ability to represent themselves, with the overwhelming majority forced into camps for displaced people, or taken into care by charitable groups. Refugees don’t have the ability to work to make a living, they aren’t able to provide for their families, and they exist in a sort of half legal half outcast situation.

Ronda Today is proud to be one of the many supporters and sponsors of Bjorn Heidenstrom as he cycles from Norway to South Africa to give the world’s many refugees a voice. His approach is proving successful, over 50 million people have watched Bjorn’s travels on television or in his YouTube channel, and sponsors are lining up to offer funds to the Refugee Council and UNHCR.

With Bjorn’s enthusiasm and our support we can make a difference, and we can put the plight of refugees firmly where it belongs, in the news and in front of prime ministers and presidents of the world’s family of nations.

Bjorn Heidenstrom at Hotel Ronda

Bjorn would like to thank Carlos Mirasol García, councillor for sport for his active encouragement and allowing Bjorn to meet the future football stars of Ronda, Hotel Ronda for providing Bjorn with a room and hot shower for the night, Bar La Bola on Carrera Espinel for graciously providing Bjorn with lunch, Restaurant El Predicatorio for graciously providing Bjorn with breakfast. Charlotte Wilmot and Alonso Jiménez González were invaluable friends who worked tirelessly to ensure Bjorn’s trip to Ronda was a success. Thank you all.

So, what happens now? Bjorn is on his way, and the plight of refugees could be forgotten now that we’ve had our fun. But Ronda Today cannot let this happen. We’ll be following Bjorn’s travels as he makes his way to South Africa, and we’ll be helping to organise workshops and fund raising activities to let Bjorn and the Refugee Council know that Rondeños want to help make a difference. Please join us. Send us an email (admin@rondatoday.com) and tell us if you can help Bjorn collect signed football shirts, or if you’d like write Bjorn a message of support.

We’re not asking for money, we’ll find sponsors for that, what we are asking for is your good wishes. You can read about Bjorn’s travels directly on his website, theshirt2010.net, or follow him on Twitter, @heidenstrom.

Help Ronda Today!

By booking a hotel or other accommodation via the reservation box below you are helping Ronda Today to be as helpful and as acurate as possible with the most comprehensive information on the web about the town of Ronda.

The essential Ronda Today Printable guide at 5 euros is well worth the small investment and helps you get the very best out of a visit to this wonderfull Andalucian town.

Thank you for your support and remember that at booking.com, very often the hotel deals are even cheaper than going directly to the hotel!

Search hotels in Ronda

Destination

Check-in date

Check-out date

I don't have specific dates yet

Bus Tickets to Ronda

Click the below image to reserve your bus tickets to Ronda and across Spain

Welcome to one of Spain's most visited cities (and for good reason.) Our little city is very compact and in fact from arriving in Ronda, to seeing the Real Maestranza bullring, the Puente Nuevo and El Tajo gorge, the many beautiful churches, our museums, or the wonderful coffee shops and tapas bars, we have it all within a short 30 minute walk.

A walking tour of Ronda is a pleasant and enjoyable way to spend a lazy few hours, almost everything you could want to see in Ronda is no more than 200-300 metres from the new bridge.Click here to read more about Ronda

But to really get the most out of Ronda, book a hotel, stay with us for a few days and immerse yourself into the City of Dreams.

"We found our way straight to a car park, with the help of your guide, and walked to the bridge. Ronda is so beautiful. Unfortunately, we did not have too much time to explore but managed to see a great deal because we had read the guide in detail and worked out the best use of the limited time we did have. All in all, the guide proved to be a good investment!"